Writing

Rosh Hashana Smackdown 5776

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale. Miss Piggy and Kermit. 2015 has already been riddled with celebrity breakups and with the Jewish New Year upon us, we have our latest. Following the Ashley Madison hack and unsubstantiated rumors of infidelity, TMZ is reporting that Apple and Honey are calling it quits after five thousand seven hundred and seventy-five years of wedded bliss.

For generations, Jews around the world have enjoyed this combination to bring in a sweet new year. Unfortunately for all, Apple and Honey as we know it are no longer, and the Chosen People are choosing sides.

Who will you side with in 5776, Team Apple or Team Honey? The Times of Israel is here to break down your options, category by category, to make this painful choice as easy as possible.

Color:
Apple comes in many eye-pleasing varieties, both green and red.

Honey is brown.

Advantage: Apple

Taste:
While at times sweet and juicy, apples can sometimes be tart or simply repellent when not ripe.

Honey is always sweet and doesn’t spoil.

Advantage: Honey

Nutritional Value:
From what I hear from my doctor, orthodontist, parents, third grade teacher, Buzzfeed, Twitter, OBGYN, and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, fruit is supposed to be healthy.

A photo posted by Blake (@blakelittlephoto) on Apr 18, 2015 at 9:17am PDT

Apple:

Huge and Uncomfortable Advantage: Honey

Religious Symbolism:
From the story of the Garden of Eden, an apple has often represented the “forbidden fruit”.

Exodus 3:8 refers to Israel as the “land flowing with milk and honey”. Also, King Solomon went on honeymoons with each of his 700 wives, 699 of which were just “golfing trips with the guys.”

Advantage: Honey

Talmudic Relevance:
The gematria of “apple” is 494, the same number of derogatory emails that Bibi sent about Obama prior to his speech to Congress.

Rabbi Nachmiel Ben-Lafa’s treatise on the Babylonian Talmud includes a reference to “David Ben-Gurion Shawarma”, which on one hand is an acrostic for the Hebrew word for “honey” (ד-ב-ש), while on the other hand is dumb and likely means Ben-Lafa was looking too hard for meaning where it did not exist.

Is It “Good for the Jews?”:
The Pew Research Center reports that 53% of unaffiliated Jews who eat apples between Shemini Atzeret and Shushan Purim are 81% more likely to marry 120% of non-Jews.

Internationally renowned sociologist Professor Steven M. Cohen’s recent demographic study on world Jewry concluded that not only is Israel attachment changing across generational lines, but that honey mixed with sesame seeds makes a delectable homemade halva.

Advantage: Honey

Iran Deal:
Apple supported the The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, otherwise known as the “Iran deal”, due to its feelings that while flawed, the agreement was the best one available at the current time. Inspections plus a firm commitment from the West to enforce penalties for breaking the deal is the only reasonable way to stop Iran’s path to the bomb.

Social Media Presence:
In a career-threatening scandal, naked photos of Apple circulated on Reddit last week. Apple blamed Anonymous.

Honey’s selfie with Nicki Minaj and Fetty Wap at the 2015 VMA’s was reTweeted 427,000 times in Bnei Brak alone.

Advantage: Honey

Final Verdict?
Who are we kidding, these two are truly greater than the sum of their parts. Despite their differences, like Lucy and Ricky, Ross and Rachel, and Homer and Marge, the world is a better place when Apple and Honey are together.